A New Romance
by xmellyxox
Summary: the idea came to me from the advert, WHICH IS PERFECT. it's set beginning of series 3. I CANNOT WAIT.
1. Chapter 1

**HOW PERFECT was the series 3 trailer?! Omg it was beautiful! **

**So I thought I would start this, because watching the advert last night, and seeing a sneaky little glance between Janet and the new DS…triggered some thoughts in my mind ;')**

**Hope you enjoy! Please review!:D**

**Chapter 1:**

Janet's mouth dropped open as she entered the office.

She had been quite down over the past few weeks, since Andy's departure and Ade's refusal to co-operate over the divorce, but today seemed different. It felt different as soon as she had woken up, and she was unsure what had made her feel like this. She had woken up with a whole new feeling and she had decided to pull herself together, and move on. She expected to go to work with a fresh new attitude to begin the week with.

What she didn't expect to see was a new, young, hotshot DS sitting on the corner of her desk.

"Hello?" Janet queried, hovering by the side of the chair.

The young man looked up.

"Hey" he replied casually, before looking back at his feet.

"And who are you?" Janet asked, throwing her bag on the other side of the table.

The young man stood up, and extended his arm.

"My name's Rob Waddington, I'm the new sergeant. Who are you?"

"Janet Scott…aren't you too young to be a sergeant?!" she exclaimed

"Well…I don't know. I'm 30, so…not _that _young" he replied, looking awfully flustered.

"Oh I see…I wasn't saying it as a bad thing, just surprised…" Janet stuttered. "Sorry, I'll just…" she continued, trying to hide the fact she was blushing.

"Don't worry, I have that effect on people" he said, touching her wrist before walking over to Andy's old desk.

Janet sighed to herself, and sat down at her desk. 10 minutes later Rachel came in, looking very smart and controlled. She didn't notice the new man in the room until she looked over at Janet, who was still blushing like mad behind her glasses. "What's got into you?" Rachel exclaimed, causing Rob to turn around.

Janet's eyes widened and she whispered "shhh" under her breath, before tilting her head slightly to see if anybody had heard.

"Ohhh" Rachel whispered, leaning in. "So who's that then?" she cooed, winking several times at Janet.

"That's Rob." Janet replied as calm as she could.

"I see, so you know each other then?" Rachel persisted, nudging Janet's arm.

"Not really, just spoke to him when I came in..." Rachel widened her eyes and winked again.

"So, are you going to ask him for a drink?" she blurted out, earning herself another "shhh" from Janet.

"No!" Janet exclaimed. "Why would I ask him? I only know his name…we haven't been in the same room for more than an hour and you're…"

"Woahh, calm down! I meant as a welcoming drink, geez!"

"Oh." Janet sighed, turning her attention back to the screen.

"So?! Are you?" Rachel prompted.

"Am I what?!" Janet exclaimed.

"Are you going to go for a drink with him later?"

"NO!"

"Alrightttttt. So you wouldn't mind if I asked him?" Rachel teased, standing up and walking past Janet.

"No, don't you dare! Rachel!"

XxxXxxX

"Hello. I don't believe we have met" Rachel said, startling the man.

"Hi, I'm Rob. Are you Rachel?" he replied

"Yes…how do you know that?" she replied, tilting her head.

"DCI Murray told me about you…"

"What did she say?" Rachel cut in

"Oh…just that you're the office flirt…and that you may try your luck" Rob replied, with a glint in his eye.

"SHE SAID WHAT?"

Rob just nodded, and looked out of the window.

"I have a boyfriend anyway, and even if it was true-" Rachel began, only to be interrupted by Rob again.

"I won't judge, don't worry" he said, winking. "I wanted to ask you one thing though, your friend, Janet, is she…she married?"

Rachel raised her eyebrows; "No, she…well…I don't think she wants her life broadcast to every stranger, but she's not long divorced…between me and you, she's better off without him."

Rob nodded.

"I didn't say anything though ok?"

"No, no, of course not!"

Rachel nodded and walked back over to her desk, only being seated for a few seconds before Gill squawked as she came out of her office.

"Briefing in 5!" she said, as the rest of the team filtered in…

XxxXxxX

"Ask him! Just ask him!" Rachel nudged, pushing Janet towards Rob's desk.

"Stop it Rachel I said no!"

"Janet, stop being such a spoil sport! Ask him for a bloody drink it doesn't mean anything it's just being polite after his first day at work! it doesn't always end up as a marriage now GO ON!"

"Stop it! What are you going on about?! Marriage?! He's too young for me anyway, I have only known him what, 12 hours?" Janet snapped.

"Hey! It was a joke! Look, I can see you're clearly into him and…"

"What? No I'm not!"

"You are!" Gill butted in, standing next to Rachel.

"You have spent all day trying to clobber him, staring at him during the briefing, offering to 'show him the ropes'…you, Janet Scott, are well and truly smitten" Gill concluded gleefully.

Janet began to protest, but got cut off by Rob. "Hi, um, Rachel said that there's a pub over the road? Do you fancy going for a drink? It doesn't mean anything…just a way of…erm, saying thank you. For making me feel welcome today"

"I don't know I have to be getting home-" Janet began.

"She'd love to Rob, thanks" Rachel answered.

Rob nodded, unsure what to say next.

"Right, let's get going, the pub will be shut at this rate!" Rachel encouraged, trying to break the awkward silence.

XxxXxxX

"So what do you want to drink?" Rob asked, sliding onto a stool next to Janet at the bar.

"Just an orange juice please" Janet replied.

"Oh come on, you must want something stronger! Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine, sorry, I haven't been much fun. There's just a lot of things going on." Janet sighed.

"Well, I'm here if you need to talk, ok? Now, what do you want to drink? Come on, I'm relying on you to fill me in with background gossip, I've heard you're the one who knows everything about everybody"

"I'll have a red wine, thanks…who told you that?!"

"Gill…you haven't denied it though, so I'll take that as a yes then" Rob winked.

"Haha very funny. I just find out things…it's not my fault if they confide in me you know, I just have that way about me…" Janet trailed off as she downed the glass.

"Oh right, well, I'll look forward to seeing that then. Anyway, I had better go, got to be up early tomorrow." Rob jumped off the stool and called across to the table, who were trying to look busy after staring at Janet and Rob at the bar. "See you tomorrow. Thanks for a great first day"

"Byeeeeee!" Gill and Rachel cooed, waving their empty glasses in the air.

"Bye Janet" Rob said, kissing her on the cheek, making her blush.

He smiled, before nodding his head in the direction of the table and leaving…


	2. Chapter 2

**This is based on the interview Danny Miller did about his arrival to Scott&Bailey…**

**He said in the interview "****When Scott & Bailey fall out later in the series, Janet finds that she can confide in the young man as a friend." So this is my interpretation on it…**

**Hope you like! X**

**Chapter 2:**

"So yeah, that's it really…I've never had a full on argument with Rachel like this before, I don't know, it feels weird somehow…to not speak. I mean, she's been my best friend for a few years now. We've both been there for each other; I was there through all of her Nick Savage stuff – which I won't bore you with now, and she was there when I first split up with Adrian but…" Janet trailed off as she reached across the table for the bottle, topping up hers and Rob's glasses.

They were sat in the corner of the pub, opposite each other. Janet was pouring her heart out to Rob, and had been for the last hour or so. He hadn't said a lot, he just listened. That was exactly what Janet needed at this time. He was quite a bit younger than she was, he had very little experience, both in the job and in the big wide world but, he really was lovely…and rather charming.

Janet sighed, and titled her head to the left, before giving a weak smile, and carrying on. "…I just don't know anymore…I never imagined I would fall out with anyone for this long, especially Rach. I'm not sure now…if it will ever be the same, you know? I guess our friendship wasn't as strong as we thought it was, but…oh I don't know"

Janet finished the last drop of wine that was in her glass, and stared at Rob. "I bet you didn't expect all of that to come out did you, when you offered me a drink!"

She gave a weak laugh, before nodding her head. She wasn't completely drunk, but she wasn't exactly sober either. She drifted off into a daydream, just staring at the empty glass in front of her. She just wanted more wine.

"…sure it will all be ok in the end" Rob finished.

Janet looked up blankly, she had no idea what he had just said, but didn't want to seem rude by asking him to repeat it, so she just nodded. Rob raised one of his eyebrows, and tilted his head.

"Did you listen to a word I just said?" he asked, smiling.

"Erm…not really…no. Sorry. I was just…thinking." Janet replied.

"Well, all I was saying was that you both seem really close, and you do seem to have a strong bond. I'm sure you will sort it all out soon enough, you just need time and space apart. I'm sure it will be ok in the end."

Rob reached over and squeezed Janet's hand. "Would you like another drink?" he asked, going to stand up.

"It's fine! I'll get it, it's the least I can do. After all, you have let me rattle on for ages!" Janet stood up and wobbled, but tried to move past it. As she made her way to the bar, her ankle buckled and she fell against the stools, grabbing onto them. Rob ran over to her, lifting her up, asking her if she was ok. He helped her onto a stool by the bar and sat down next to her, still holding her hand. Janet looked at his face, full of panic, and began to laugh.

Rob looked awfully confused; he placed her hand back on her knee and began to smile too. Janet, by this time, was in stiches, tears rolling down her face.

"I think we had better get you home" Rob said, standing up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! I'll get a taxi it's fine!" Janet cooed, waving her hands around.

"Not in this state you won't! Come on, I'll drop you off, I haven't had much to drink anyway" Rob said, hooking her arm around his neck. "Partly because _someone _got there before me" he whispered, under his breath.

They waddled out of the pub, swaying from side to side. Rob opened the passenger seat door, and helped Janet into the car, before closing the door and getting in himself.

"Where do you live then?" he asked, turning on the engine.

"20 Clough Road, Oldham" Janet said, poking around with the buttons on the dashboard. She managed to hit the radio, and a tune came blasting on, full volume. Both Rob and Janet jumped, before they turned to look at each other and burst out laughing.

The car journey was quite awkward, neither of them really spoke. Janet had run out of things to say, and her head was now slumped at the side of the car, face pressed up against the window. Her eyes were dropping shut, but she didn't really feel tired.

Ten minutes later, Rob pulled up outside Janet's house. He got out, and opened the door for her.

"Aah, true gentleman" Janet cooed, trying to find her keys from her bag. There were no lights on in the house, she wondered if the girls were staying with Ade tonight. They didn't really communicate much nowadays; mainly because of the argument they had a few weeks ago, causing him to move in with his girlfriend. Why did she always seem to push away those that were once so close to her?

"Here, let me find them." Rob said, after a few minutes, it was awfully cold outside, and waiting for Janet to look for her keys wasn't helping. "We'll be here for hours at this rate!"

Janet smiled and followed him up to the door. He opened it, and stepped inside, looking around for a light switch. "Would you like a drink?" Janet asked, kicking off her shoes and throwing her coat onto the stairs.

"Erm, when you say drink…?" Rob asked cautiously. He was still quite timid and nervous; after all, he had only been part of Syndicate 9 for a short period of time.

"Just a normal drink! I don't think I should have any more alcohol, got to be up early tomorrow! We have tea, coffee, water, orange squash, fresh orange, apple juice…oh and milk."

Rob smiled, he had never noticed it at work, and he certainly wouldn't have thought it when he had first met Janet, but she had this way about her. Whether it was the alcohol, or the fact they were out of the office…it was something that he couldn't quite put his finger on…

"I'll just have a tea please" he said, taking his coat off.

"Okay, go into the living room, take a seat" Janet said. He was about to offer his help, because her hands were shaking but she ushered him into the front room.

He began to have a mooch around, looking at all the pictures on the wall and on the fireplace. There was a picture of her and her children, and what he assumed to be her ex, and there were many more of her girls on their own. He was about to sit down, when his eye caught on one of the smaller pictures, on the coffee table. It was of Gill, Rachel and Janet, trying to take a picture of themselves. _It must have been a works doo. _He thought to himself. It was a pretty close up one, probably because they were trying to take it themselves, but Janet was in the middle with a glass of wine, Gill was on the one side with her tongue out and eyes shut, with Rachel was the other side of Janet, kissing her cheek.

Rob placed the photo back down when Janet came back in, still slightly swaying. "When was this?" he asked, taking a mug from Janet.

"Erm, last Christmas party I think!" Janet said, smiling.

"Cute" Rob replied, unsure of what to say.

Janet got out the blanket from behind the door, and climbed onto the sofa with it. Rob sat down on the edge next to her, quite uncomfortably before Janet nudged him and told him to put his feet up.

Half an hour later, Rob and Janet were opposite each other, both wrapped in blankets.

"Thank you…for listening to me drabble on… it's probably not what you need right now, what, with starting at a new syndicate and everything…"

"Honestly it's not trouble; it's nice to be able to get out for a bit!"

Janet smiled and leaned forward, trying to place her mug on the table, without actually having to move.

"Here, let me do it" Rob said, taking the mug off Janet. He put it down on the table and looked up. Their eyes met and Janet smiled. She fell into Rob, her lips pressing against his. They kissed for a few seconds, before Janet moved away.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…it's getting late, and I'm old enough to be your mother…I'm sorry."

Rob shook his head. "Don't worry. It was…it was nice. I'd better go anyway, early start tomorrow…do you, do you want me to pick you up and take you to the pub so you can pick up your car?"

Janet nodded and smiled, before standing up and folding the blanket. "Thanks"

Janet walked Rob to the door, and opened it. He put his coat on, and slid past Janet. "Ok, well I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Okay" Janet smiled.

Rob leaned in and kissed her cheek, but at that moment Janet turned her head. Their lips met again, for a bit longer this time.

"I'll see you tomorrow" he whispered .


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**Janet:**

Janet closed the door behind Rob, locked it, and leant against it for a few seconds, just thinking about what had just happened.

Yes, she had fallen out with Rach – it seemed quite petty, but she was fed up of Rachel's mistakes. She was a bloody good copper, and she needed someone to push her on the straight and narrow every so often, but recently, especially since marrying Sean, she's become too dependent on people bailing her out. Janet had enough with her own children at home, she didn't need to go to work and deal with tears and tantrums there as well.

Rob was sweet. There was no doubt about it; he would be ACPO rank in 10 or 11 years. She felt something fuzzy when she was with him, but she couldn't work out if it meant anything, or whether it was a mothering instinct. Even Gill had said she would like to be his mother…his mother. _His mother._

Janet let that sink in for a while. She had just kissed a man who was young enough to be her child. He was so young, and Janet didn't know what to do. What was it that attracted her to the wrong people? First it was Andy, now it was Rob. Andy seemed fun at first, but then it turned so nasty and bitter. She had this familiar feeling in her stomach, she didn't want to ruin her friendship with Rob, and she couldn't risk her job again. It was lucky, that Mitch came forward before; otherwise she could have been flirted off to another syndicate. On the other hand, Adrian had found himself a younger model, so why couldn't she?

She went upstairs and got ready for bed. She flicked on her light and turned to the folded page in her book and began to read. After about five minutes, she gave up. She turned off her light and lay in the darkness, on her back. She would have to wait and see what tomorrow brought. She knew one thing though; it was going to be as awkward as hell in the morning…

**Rob:**

Rob arrived back at his flat 15 minutes later. He flicked the kettle on and sunk into his sofa, kicking his shoes off. He scrolled through all the channels, trying to find something decent to watch, but Janet was all he could think about. She was all he could see in his mind. She was older than him, old enough to be his mother. He hadn't had a good relationship with his mum, which made him wonder whether that is why he dotes on Janet…as a motherly figure. There was something else though, he could feel a connection, but he wasn't sure what. He had only had a few relationships in his years, one which lead from his university years until he became a constable.

He knew he would have to say something tomorrow to her, but he didn't know what to say, when to say it, or how to say it. He wondered what Janet was doing now, and whether or not she was thinking about him, like he was thinking about her.

He got up and turned off the television. He completely forgot about the boiling kettle, and went to bed. He fell to sleep almost immediately, dreaming about the different ways the conversation may go in the morning…

XxxXxxX

The 6 hours since they had last saw each other had flown. Janet woke up, her head pounding a bit, and the alarm clock buzzing on the side of the table. She groaned and turned over, wanting to go back to sleep and avoid meeting with Rob.

The alarm went off for a second time, so she flung herself out of bed, and went to brush her teeth, and make herself look presentable. She grabbed some clothes out of her wardrobe, not even bothering to look if they matched or not, and locked herself in the bathroom.

Half an hour later, Janet was ready. The house was so quiet. Dorothy was probably still fast asleep, and with the girls at Adrian's, she had never felt so alone. The place was silent; you could hear a pin drop. She ate her toast quickly and grabbed her keys and her bag, running out of the door. She climbed into the car and turned the radio up.

She arrived at work in record time – she didn't even know how she had got there so fast. There were only a few lights on in the office, one of which was Gill's. As Janet walked in, she could see Rob was in Gill's office with her, talking about the case, and where they should pick it up from.

It was one of those exhausting ones, where you seem to go around in circles, just waiting for new evidence to come to light, and make their lives a lot easier. Gill was under a lot of pressure from the assistant chief con, pushing her to find a result or she would send in the review team.

Janet settled at her desk, not even popping her head around Gill's door to acknowledge them. She got up all the files from the previous day, and started re reading them, trying to see if there was anything they had missed.

"Janet! You're here early!" Gill barked, causing Janet to jump.

"Yeah, sorry, just thought I would come in and have a head start" Janet replied, trying to ignore the eye contact Rob was trying to make.

"Fair enough! I'm going to get a coffee, do you want one?" Gill asked, looking at Janet and Rob.

"I'll get them if you want!" Janet said, jumping up. She knew that if she was left in the office with Rob, they would have to talk.

"No it's fine, I'll go. I need a change of scenery anyway!" Gill replied, grabbing her bag.

Rob waited until Gill was out of the office, before going and sitting on the corner of Janet's desk.

Janet turned her head slightly and smiled, trying not to give away how uncomfortable she felt.

"So…last night" Rob began, causing Janet to stop typing, and place her glasses on her desk. She stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"It was…it was good" Rob continued, trying to prompt Janet to talk as well.

"Yeah it was…I'm sorry though, for…for kissing you. I…I like you, but…I'm old enough to be your mother, I don't know, I don't know. I don't think it would be right." Janet babbled. She knew that if she didn't get it out at once, she wouldn't at all.

"Oh, okay, erm, right" Rob stuttered.

"I have had an office relationship before, and it didn't go to plan. I was very lucky, gill gave me a second chance, but it has been quite awkward since…I don't want to go into it, but I couldn't stand it happening again" Janet continued.

"I don't think it would though…I mean, you know"

Janet looked puzzled. _Was Rob really trying to find a way to continue this?_ "What?"

"I don't know. I like you Janet, I do. I just…I don't think it would be awkward, so long as you were okay with it…I mean I am, but if you don't want to…I mean, I'm cool with that too" Rob said.

"Yeah. I like you too…just, what if it doesn't work out? It will be awkward to work together. What if you meet someone your own age, someone younger than me? I don't want to destroy our friendship. I don't want to destroy anything. I like it the way it is…"

"Who says we will? Come on Jan, you know I'm not like that. Even if we take it slow, go at your own speed, not rush into anything…give it a go…"

Janet stared into his eyes. He did seem like he meant it. She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded gently and smiled. Rob leaned in and kissed her briefly on the lips, before pulling away. Janet stood up, and held his hand, leaning against his body, seated on the desk. She whispered in his ear; _are you sure?_

Rob nodded, before pressing his lips into Janet's again.

XxxXxxX

Gill stood just outside the office, smirking at the piece of affection she had just witnessed. She knew there was something going on between them. She coughed as she walked in, pretending not to notice them.

"So! Is no one else here yet? Gosh, they are all so bloody lazy!" Gill chirped, secretly laughing to herself, watching Janet and Rob scurry around into normal positions.

"Yeah, I know…shocking" Janet said, taking a coffee.

"So, what have you two been discussing whilst I've been gone? Any new leads?" she continued. She bit her lip, trying her hardest not to burst out laughing at the fact Janet had gone bright red, and Rob was taking an unusual interest in the blinds.

"Oh you know this and that" Janet said calmly, trying to hide behind her drink.

Gill nodded and looked at both of them, before turning and heading into the office.

Janet looked at Rob and sighed a breath of relief, before raising one eyebrow and smirking, as she settled back down to work.


End file.
